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Wednesday, February 19, 2014

A Field in England (February 21st and 22nd at the Capitol Theatre)

[A
FIELD IN ENGLAND screens Friday
February 21st at 10:15 pm and Saturday February 22nd at 10:15 pm and
midnight at the Capitol Theatre.]

Review
by Bob Ignizio

A
minimalist head trip of a film, director Ben Wheatley's A
FIELD IN ENGLAND (from a
screenplay by Amy Jump) would probably have found a respectable
audience back in the days when EL TOPO
and ERASHERHEAD were
kings of the midnight movie circuit. Like Wheatley's other films, for lack of a better term it's being referred to as a horror film by many. It certainly has aspects of that genre, but it's also part historical drama, part lowbrow comedy, and part metaphysical puzzle. It's the kind of movie where a
plot synopsis can't do much justice to the work, but we'll
give it a shot anyway.

Set
during the British Civil War of the 17th century, FIELD
follows a group of deserters from both sides of the conflict as they
make their way through the titular locale. The band consists of
Whitehead (Reece Shearsmith), an alchemist's assistant on a mission
to retrieve some property stolen from his master, brusque soldier
Cutler (Ryan Pope), simpleton Friend (Richard Glover), and the
somewhat sketchy Jacob (Peter Ferdinando).

Eventually the
travelers find some mushrooms growing and, except for Whitehead,
decide to eat them. Near the fungi is a post with a rope attached to
it, and with most of the group well out of their heads, they pull on
it until they manage to yank O'neil (Michael Smiley) into view.
O'Neil happens to be the man Whitehead was sent to find, but with
Cutler on his side, it is O'Neil who winds up in control. He then
forces the group of misfits to start digging a hole where some kind
of treasure is supposed to be buried, with Cutler standing guard.
Strange forces seem to be at work, though, and whether that's merely
the result of everyone tripping on mushrooms or some sort of magic
remains to be seen. Either way, the group is soon fighting amongst
themselves, and the field may well be a graveyard for some if not all
of them.

Like the best
midnight movies, you don't watch A FIELD IN ENGLAND, you
experience it. And if you're expecting to walk away from that
experience with a full understanding after only one viewing, you are
destined for disappointment. There is a resolution of sorts, but it
is by no means a straightforward one. Even though I'm not sure
exactly what it all meant, I still found myself completely enthralled
by Wheatley's hallucinatory vision. Others may well be utterly pissed
off that they watched a bunch of dirty, scruffy guys walk around in
the grass and fight each other while tripping for 90 minutes. 3 out
of 4 stars.